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Aloha, Hawai’i.

The UCLA men’s volleyball team has learned that it will host its archrival in the first round of the MPSF tournament.

Hawai’i lost in four games at Pepperdine on Thursday night, dropping the Warriors into the sixth seed, and will come to play No. 3-seeded UCLA at Pauley Pavilion on April 24.

A UCLA win over Hawai’i would send the Bruins one step closer to playing on the Warriors’ home court, site of this year’s NCAA Final Four.

“This is going to be a tough match, and we’re going to treat this as the first of five tough matches,” said UCLA coach Al Scates, referring to the number of postseason matches between the team and the national championship.

Before the postseason begins, the Bruins (22-5, 16-5 MPSF) will head north to face No. 8-ranked UC Santa Barbara at Robertson Gym on Saturday.

“The last game of the season is important for our momentum, and we don’t want a loss heading into the playoffs,” opposite hitter Steve Klosterman said.

UC Santa Barbara (14-14, 9-12) has lost three straight matches, while UCLA is playing its best volleyball of the year, coming off a win over top-ranked BYU last week and a sweep of No. 5 Cal State Northridge on Wednesday.

The Bruins, led by Klosterman and junior middle blocker Paul Johnson, had one of its best blocking matches of the season against the Matadors, and they will need to duplicate that against UCSB, which is locked in as the seventh seed in the MPSF tournament.

Although the Bruins beat the Gauchos in four games in February, UCSB sophomore opposite hitter Evan Patak, a leading attacker, did not play due to a knee injury.

“We’re pretty much going to concentrate on him,” Klosterman said.

In recent matches, UCLA has finally stabilized its starting lineup, with Scates going with Klosterman and senior J.T. Wenger at outside hitter.

But senior opposite hitter Marcin Jagoda has also impressed off the bench and will receive playing time.

“He’s too valuable to be on the bench the entire match,” assistant coach Brian Rofer said.

But the Bruins ultimately understand that postseason matches are the ones that will count toward the legacy of this year’s team.

“It’s more important that we play a solid game (against UCSB) than win,” Rofer said.

“We just need to play our own game, and we’ll be fine.”